Ali Muhammad Brown, 30, of Seattle, is on trial for allegedly committing an armed robbery on July 10, 2014
NEWARK -- Ali Muhammad Brown, who is accused of killing Livingston resident Brendan Tevlin last year, went on trial Thursday on charges of committing an armed robbery about two weeks after the fatal shooting.
But Brown chose not to attend the trial.
Before the jurors entered the Newark courtroom, Superior Court Judge Michael Petrolle said Brown advised him and the attorneys during an earlier video conference from the Essex County jail that he did not want to come to court on Thursday.
When Petrolle later addressed the jury, he told the jurors not to draw any conclusions from Brown's absence.
"He has chosen not to be present," Petrolle told the jury. "You are not to draw any conclusions of any kind from his choice not to be present."
Brown, 30, of Seattle, is on trial for robbery and weapons offenses in connection with the July 10, 2014 incident. The charges against Brown in Tevlin's June 25, 2014 killing are being handled separately.
Brown remains in custody at the Essex County Correctional Facility in lieu of $5 million bail.
During opening statements in the trial, Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Jamel Semper told jurors Brown, while wearing a mask, stole the man's wallet and other belongings in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 200 Mount Pleasant Avenue in West Orange.
While pointing a handgun at the man, Brown then ordered the victim to get inside the trunk of the man's vehicle before he fled the scene, Semper said.
When police located Brown on July 18, 2014 in a nearby makeshift campsite, officers found him with various items, such as the handgun, the clothing used to mask his face and the victim's wallet, including his driver's license, Semper said.
"This is no coincidence. This isn't a rush to judgment. This isn't mistaken identity," Semper told the jury. "This is a robbery."
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But Brown's attorney, Albert Kapin, told jurors that Brown did not commit the robbery and noted how the victim could not identify the assailant.
"Not everything is open and shut," Kapin said. "Not everything is superficial. There are nuances."
Kapin argued Brown was discovered in "an open area," where there were items strewn about that belonged to the victim, Brown and "someone else." But while the victim reported his iPhone and tablet were stolen in the robbery, those items were not found with Brown, Kapin said.
Semper said one of the victim's credit cards was later used at various locations in Essex and Union counties, but Kapin said that even if jurors believe Brown used the credit card, that doesn't prove he committed the robbery. Kapin suggested Brown had found the credit card.
"We don't have any identification of the robber," Kapin said. "The proof has to be compelling to you that he actually committed the robbery."
Authorities have claimed Brown committed the robbery after gunning down Tevlin when Brown and at least three other men attempted to rob Tevlin on June 25, 2014 at a traffic light at Walker Road and Northfield Avenue in West Orange.
While the other men fled the scene, Brown moved Tevlin's body into the passenger seat of Tevlin's Jeep Liberty and drove it to a nearby apartment building, where he abandoned it, authorities said.
Ali Muhammad Brown, 30, of Seattle, appears for his arraignment before Superior Court Judge Michael Petrolle in connection with a July 10, 2014 robbery in West Orange. That incident occurred about two weeks after Brown allegedly gunned down Livingston teen Brendan Tevlin. Newark, NJ 2/9/15 (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Brown - who also is charged with killing three men in Washington State -- has told investigators he killed Tevlin as an act of "vengeance" for innocent lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran.
In the Tevlin case, Brown was indicted in July on terrorism, murder and related charges. Brown also is facing charges of robbing a man on June 29, 2014 at a coffee shop in Point Pleasant Beach.
On the witness stand Thursday at the robbery trial, the victim grew emotional and began crying as he recounted the incident.
Around 6 a.m. on July 10, 2014, the man said he opened a passenger side door of his vehicle to put items inside before heading to work, and he heard a voice from behind him say, "Hey, you know what this is."
When the victim turned around, he said he saw a masked man standing in the adjacent forested area and pointing a gun at him. The victim said he "thought it was a joke, but then now I realize this guy is holding a gun."
The victim said the robber ultimately ordered him to the ground and told him to lay on his stomach. Standing over him, the assailant then jammed the gun into the victim's back and stole his wallet, the victim said.
During his testimony, the victim said he became afraid when the robber ordered him to get up and come toward the vehicle. The victim said he hesitated, saying "you got what you came for." The victim was ultimately ordered to get inside the trunk, and the robber then fled the area.
"He's got a gun," the victim said in explaining why he was afraid.
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.